SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Rounding out a four-game road trip, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (6-7, 5-3 CCAA) will travel to Northern California to face Sonoma State (7-7, 6-2 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Rohnert Park before heading up to Cal Poly Humboldt (8-6, 6-2 CCAA) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars fell to No. 12/7 Cal State San Bernardino last Thursday by a score of 74-65 with Greg Milton III leading CSUSM with 16 points and nine rebounds.
• CSUSM then fell 57-46 at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday with Joel Mensah tallying his third double-double of the season with 18 rebounds and 15 points.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM ranks 22nd in the nation and leads the CCAA with 11.2 turnovers per game.
• The Cougars have the 26th-best turnover margin in the country and lead the conference.
• Shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc, CSUSM 36th nationally and second in the CCAA.
• With an assist/turnover ratio of 1.26, the Cougars lead the league.
• CSUSM has the second-best field-goal percentage in the CCAA at 47.2.
• The Cougars have the best scoring defense in the conference at 68.2 points allowed per game.
• CSUSM is dishing out the third-most assists per game in the CCAA at 14.2 and also ranks third for steals per game at 7.5.
• Greg Milton III is playing the most minutes per game in the CCAA at just over 35 per game.
• Milton ranks fourth in the league with 18.8 points per game.
• Joel Mensah is coming down with the second-most rebounds per game in the conference at 8.2 while averaging the second-most offensive boards in the league at 6.0.
• With assist/turnover ratios of 2.47 and 2.35, Jayce McCain and Zack Perlstein rank second and third in the CCAA, respectively.
• To date, CSUSM has played the toughest schedule among CCAA squads with past opposition recording a winning percentage of .572.
• With his next start, Jayce McCain will have made the most starts of any CSUSM player in program history at 58.

 

GAME 14 | SONOMA STATE
Date	Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	Rohnert Park, Calif.
Venue	The Wolves' Den
Records	CSUSM (6-7, 5-3 CCAA) SSU (7-7, 6-2 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

THURSDAY AGAINST THE SEAWOLVES

• Sonoma finds itself on a five-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 8.
• This past week, the Seawolves earned a 59-51 victory over San Francisco State on Thursday before taking an 81-76 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.
• With the victories, Sonoma is tied for second in the CCAA standings with Cal Poly Humboldt.
• The Seawolves are hitting 75.3% of their free throws this season, ranking first in the CCAA.
• Hitting 46.5% of their field goals, SSU is third in the conference.
• The Seawolves have the third-best rebound margin in the CCAA at 2.0.
• While Sonoma's scoring offense ranks third in the league at 71.7 points per game, its scoring defense ranks eighth at 72.7 points allowed per game.
• The Seawolves rank last in the CCAA for turnovers forced per game (13.33) and turnover margin (-1.3).
• Jaylen Wells is SSU's top player as he leads the conference in scoring (21.8), rebounds (8.6) and double-doubles (5).
• CSUSM is 8-3 in the all-time series history against SSU and has won the five past meetings.
• The Cougars are 4-1 when playing in Rohnert Park with the only loss occurring in the inaugural meeting on Feb. 13, 2016.

 

GAME 15 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date	Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	Arcata, Calif.
Venue	Lumberjack Arena
Records	CSUSM (6-7, 5-3 CCAA) CPP (8-6, 6-2 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

 

WRAPPING UP THE ROAD TRIP

• CSUSM will wrap up its four-game road trip by visiting Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturday.
• Prior to Saturday's meeting, Humboldt will face Cal State LA on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
• The Lumberjacks are coming off consecutive victories against Cal State Monterey Bay and have won four of their last five contests.
• Humboldt is tied with Sonoma State for second place in the CCAA standings.
• The Lumberjacks' best category on a national level is offensive rebounds as they rank 27th with 13.14 per game.
• Scoring 82.8 points per game, Humboldt has the second-best scoring offense in the conference and ranks 38th nationally.
• On the flip side, the Lumberjacks have the worst scoring defense in the CCAA and rank 276th nationally with 82.6 points allowed per game.
• Humboldt is knocking down 74.4% of all its free throws this season to rank second in the league.
• Marlon Ruffin is the Lumberjacks' top scorer at 16.9 points per game to rank sixth in the conference.
• Jaden Edwards is coming down with 7.8 boards per game to rank third in the CCAA.
• CSUSM is 6-5 against Humboldt in the all-time series and is 4-2 when playing in Arcata.
• The Cougars have won the past four meetings at Humboldt with the last loss occurring on Nov. 26, 2016.

A NEW CAMPAIGN

• The Cougars were voted to finish second in the 2022-23 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Nine Cougars return from the 2021-22 team, including All-CCAA first-teamer Jayce McCain and second-teamer Greg Milton III.
• CSUSM is joined this year by five transfers, including sophomore Quinn Denker (West Valley College), redshirt junior Edwyn Collins (Riverside City College), graduate Zack Perlstein (Cal State East Bay), redshirt junior Bing Huang (Johnson County CC) and redshirt junior Chris Howard (Palomar College).
• Rounding out the Cougars' roster of 15 is lone freshman Jermaine Rogers II (Ruben S. Ayala HS).

 

THE FOSTER FILE

• Head coach B.J. Foster enters his sixth season in charge of the CSUSM Men's Basketball program after taking over the head position in 2016.
• Under his leadership, the Cougars earned their first CCAA Tournament Championship in 2022 and made their first NCAA West Regional appearance.
• Prior to becoming head coach of the Cougars, Foster was an assistant coach with the team from 2013 to 2016.
• Foster has tallied a career record of 85-66 (.563).